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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. tube — the underground
  3. march — music
  4. squash — to crush
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. season — in sport
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — farmland
  10. wound — an injury
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. file — a line of people
  15. squash — the sport
  16. field — for sport
  17. file — a tool
  18. season — of the year
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. kick — in football
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. tube — a container
  24. file — a document

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com